A new report claims that one of the suppliers of Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 has been told to suspend work because of production issues.
Goertek officially announced on November 8 that it had “recently received a notice from a major overseas customer to suspend the production of one of its intelligent acoustic products” according to Sina News.
According to prolific insider Ming-Chi Kuo, this product “may be Apple’s AirPods Pro 2.”
Production impact
Kuo says that the order is not a result of demand but is more likely due to production issues. He further states that rival Luxshare ICT has “expanded production and obtained all orders for AirPods Pro 2”, becoming their exclusive supplier.
Kuo says it is unclear when Goertek will resume production of AirPods Pro 2 or if the incident will extend to any of Apple’s next-year orders or any other products.
Kuo says Apple is due to ship a massive 20 million AirPods Pro 2 units in the last three months of 2022, which is no surprise considering the Best Black Friday AirPods deals can already score you some money off, and because of their great use as a holiday gift.
Apple’s AirPods Pro 2, unveiled earlier this year, builds on the success of Apple’s original best true wireless earbuds with improved noise canceling and battery life. They also come with a new H2 chip and better Spatial Audio support.
It’s another supply chain blow for Apple, which has had to endure COVID disruption to the supply of its best iPhones, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro. Earlier this week the company was forced to put out a statement confirming it will not be able to meet holiday demand for the iPhone.